Contradictions
by omeganaruto
Summary: Duchess finally reached her breaking point, it was finally time for her to end it all.


She Ran.

She Ran.

All she has been doing all her life was running.

She ran from everything.

She ran from fate.

She ran from destiny.

Because it was all she could do.

Fighting was never an option

Deep down, she knew it was only delaying the inevitable.

Everything was decided for her.

But it was all she could do was run.

So she ran.

Duchess Ran as far as she could, but in the end she knew it was all going to come crashing down. In the end, no one cared what was going to happen to her.

She stumbled.

In this world, there was no one looking out for her. No one cared what was going to happen to her. She was destined to have a tragedy; to die alone, because it was all fate. It was the fact she was born to die. She hated the fact that she was forced to live this stupid life.

She dragged herself up off the ground, but her legs no longer had the strength. She no longer had the strength.

The only person that she thought cared for her was her "uncle," Rothbart. He had always treated her like a daughter; he was the only person that she could trust beside her grandmother.

She tried to stand, but no…nothing worked.

Rothbart treated her like an actual princess, but it turned out she was for some sort of plan. Apparently he and the Evil Queen were at odds with one another. The Evil Queen wanted everything then and there, but Rothbart, Duchess' uncle, had plans. He had plans that would take a generation to complete, but a plan to wipe away everything.

She was a part of this plan.

Rothbart wanted to create a contradiction, a literally plothole. He wanted to create something akin to a black hole that would wipe away the very existence of Ever After. He wanted to create something that wasn't supposed to exist because it wasn't the way destiny was supposed to be.

Duchess was this contradiction.

There was no one child of "Odile" nor was there one child of "Odette," there was only Duchess. She didn't know how, but Rothbart had made sure that Duchess was raised as both the child of Odile and Odette; something that shouldn't have existed in this world. Light and Darkness - a contradiction that shouldn't exist in this world; she was literally a plot hole. Two stories that coincided within one another, that shouldn't exist in the first place.

Duchess wasn't supposed to exist.

So not only was Duchess' ending was decided for her; but her beginnings were all planned out. There was nothing that she could control for herself. Her life was outside of her own hands.

On her knees, clenching an object she had taken from Rothbart without even realizing; a mix of anger and fear appeared on her face.

There was one thing she could control.

She clenched the object tighter in her fist. It was a pen.

She could control when she died.

It was simple right? Her fate was to die alone. She could end her story right now and be done with it. She could end her life right now and it would be possible that if she did it, than Rothbart's plan wouldn't succeed. She would have chosen "Odile" as her ending, the woman she knew as her mother.

It was so simple.

Something that she knew her uncle wouldn't have expected. Rothbart was one of the few people in Ever After that stood behind her to fight against destiny. He did this of course, it was impossible to change destiny. Even if she could take away someone else's fate, the world itself wouldn't work like that. Instead, it would be forced to fix itself to not create a plot hole, a real contradiction to the story that Duchess was trying to create.

So why fight?

With this pen in hand; Duchess could write her ending right here. Right now!

She lifted the pen into the air, poised at her neck.

All it would take was one stab; just hit an artery and it would be done. She hated everything about this world, that everything hated her. That in the end, she was going to die all alone.

She was going to end it all.

With her hand, she brought it all down with her pen.

Suddenly her hand was stopped.

"What are you doing?" a voice spoke from behind Duchess, grasping her hand tightly.

She didn't need to turn to look at the person, he had recognizable irritating voice.

"What do you want?" Duchess demanded.

"I came to help."

"Go away, Humphrey. I don't need your help." She snatched her hand out of Humphrey's grasp. "I don't need your help."

"You don't?" Humphrey asked.

"Of course not!" anger boiling, Duchess continued without even looking once behind her, "I never needed anyone's help before, and I sure don't need it now. Stupid egg-head."

"I guess you don't" Humphrey spoke.

Silence.

Why didn't he leave?

"You don't know anything!" Duchess barked.

"Yeah, I guess I don't."

Silence.

"It's my life!" She shouted in rage. "I get to decide if I want to end it, if I want to."

"It is your life."

"And it's not like anyone cares. My destiny is a tragedy; I'm destined to die alone."

"I guess so."

Silence, but no one made a move.

"So what if I decide to die now? What difference does that make?"

Humphrey said nothing.

He finally got the idea.

"I can choose when and where to end it; and nobody will care! Nobody loved me when I was alive and I'm sure no one would care if I was dead." Outside of her grandmother, she never experienced real love nor real friendship. She never had a loving mother and father. She was bullied when she was a child for being the swan princess. She lived her life how it was now, and no one was there beside her. Who would care now? No one that's who.

He still just stood there. No sound.

"Didn't you hear me?" Duchess barked.

"Yeah…"

Then what was he waiting for? Just leave.

"If you want me to leave, then I will." Humphrey said.

Duchess was taken by surprise.

"I am not going to tell you what to do. It is as you said, up to you to control your destiny."

So that was it?

"So if I said leave, then you will let me kill myself?"

"Yes…"

"Fine!" Duchess barked.

Silence.

Silence.

Even more silence.

Duchess finally broke the dreaded silence.

"…leave…" she spoke.

Silence.

"Okay." Humphrey smiled.

"…Leave, please…" duchess spoke again.

"Please…" Duchess turned her head to look at the annoying egghead. "Please, don't leave!"

Tears streamed her face, the anger washed away. All that remained was her agony and fear.

"Please, help me." She begged, choking on her own tears. "I don't want to die."

Humphrey smiled, "okay" he turned away to leave Duchess.

"Let's go, guys." Humphrey's face became serious and determined.

"Rodger," another voice said.

Duchess was taken aback. She thought it was just her and Humphrey, but she was wrong. There were others that came after her. All gathered around her, she hadn't even taken notice of them.

Daring Charming, the beast, sat on the ground, cleaning his claws as he knew they were going to be used. Darling Charming, hand on the grip on the blade, stood next to him, prime and ready to fight. Hunter Huntsmen swung his large axe onto his shoulder, his shirt already pre-emptied ripped off. Sparrow Hood was looking over the string of his bow; sure, he hadn't used it in forever, but he was still his father's son.

Duchess placed a hand over her mouth; she started to cry even harder. This time, it wasn't out of fear or agony; but out of happiness.

It wasn't just Humphrey that had been for her, but all of them were there. There were actually people that came to Duchess' aid. Something she never thought would happen. She may have been alone in the beginning, she may die alone in the ending; but right now, there were those that were there for her. This was proof.

The four people that had patiently waited made their way next to Humphrey, the five of them headed straight into the direction that Duchess was running away from. They were all determined to fight. They were determined to fight for Duchess. She couldn't help but cry.

Next up, it was the "Princes" of Ever After High vs Von Rothbart.


End file.
